Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing the title of Physician Associates to Physician Assistants.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Physician Associate (PA) title has been well established in the United Kingdom since 2014 and the role has been part of the National Health Service workforce for more than twenty years. The title reflects the fact that they are part of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, working together to deliver coordinated patient care.
It is the responsibility of professionals and their employers to ensure professional titles are used appropriately. As set out in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, all healthcare professionals should introduce themselves and explain their role to the patient regardless of their job title, with PAs being no different.
The General Medical Council has published interim standards for PAs in advance of regulation which make it clear that professionals should always introduce their role to patients and set out their responsibilities in the team.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide £20 million of funding for research for the Lobular Moon Shot Project.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in research, clinical expertise, specialist facilities, workforce and support services across a range of clinical areas. NIHR expenditure on cancer research was £121.8 million in 2022/23.
The Department and NIHR are aware of lobular breast cancer and issues in detection and treatment. Lobular breast cancers can be hard to detect through screening. Relevant research includes a £1.3 million NIHR research project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening mammography. We would urge researchers working on lobular breast cancer to submit research bids for NIHR funding, including applications to fund the United Kingdom arm of international studies. Details on eligibility and how to apply for Departmental research funding through the NIHR is available and updated on the NIHR website.
Since 2021/22, there have been five research grant bids for NIHR funding into lobular breast cancer. The above project was a successful research bid, while there were four unsuccessful applications judged by a scientific panel of peers during the same period. NIHR also supports research on lobular breast cancer through its research infrastructure including Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs). Researchers at NIHR Manchester BRC have shown that women at increased risk of breast cancer who were offered enhanced screening were more likely to survive in the long-term. In addition, NIHR supports breast cancer research funded by research partners in the charity and public sectors through the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network (CRN). Over the last five years the CRN has supported 10 lobular breast cancer-related studies.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including lobular breast cancer. The Department also continues to work closely with research funding partners such as Cancer Research UK and cancer charities, who fund research into new scientific discoveries.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment his Department has made of levels of excess deaths in (a) 2023 and (b) the 2015-2019 average. what assessment he has made of the potential links between excess deaths and age; and what the most common causes of excess deaths are in people under 50.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are several organisations producing estimates of excess deaths using different methods. Excess deaths are the difference between registered deaths and the number expected each week.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) reports monthly on Excess Mortality in England and English regions, and more information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/excess-mortality-in-england-and-english-regions
OHID’s expected deaths are based on the trend in mortality rates in England for the five years 2015 to 2019. Estimates of excess deaths are therefore not available for the pre-pandemic period using the same methodology. OHID estimates take change in population size and ageing into account.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also publishes weekly estimates of excess deaths, which are available at the following link:
ONS expected deaths are based on a simple five-year average of deaths registered each week in previous years. For deaths in 2023, the five-year average is based on deaths in 2017 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022.
In the weeks ending 6 January 2023 to 29 September 2023, OHID estimates that there have been 23,001 excess deaths in England, 6% more deaths than expected. Over this period, there were only three weeks that did not have any excess deaths, namely the weeks ending 10 March 2023, 14 April 2023, and 7 July 2023.
Additionally, over the same period, ONS estimates that there have been 24,292 excess deaths in England which, like OHID’s estimate, is 6% higher than expected. However, ONS figures show that seven weeks over the period did not have excess deaths, these being the weeks ending 10 and 17 February 2023, 14 April 2023, 21 and 28 July 2023, 29 September 2023, and 6 October 2023.
Numbers of excess deaths generally increase with age and OHID estimates that excess deaths in England over this same period above were highest in those aged 85 and over, specifically 6,955 deaths. However, the relative excess was highest in the 50 to 64 age group where excess deaths were 14% higher than expected, specifically 5,278 deaths.
Of the causes of death which OHID routinely report on, deaths involving cardiovascular diseases including heart disease and stroke, and acute respiratory diseases including flu and pneumonia had the highest numbers of excess deaths for those aged under 50 in England in January to June 2023. Data for later months are not available.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department plans to provide for the rollout of musculoskeletal first contact practitioner services in general practice.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We remain committed to growing and diversifying the general practice workforce, through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS). Primary care networks (PCNs) and practices have recruited over 29,000 additional staff, including nursing associates, pharmacists, physiotherapists and social prescribing link workers, hitting the Government’s target to recruit 26,000 a year ahead of the March 2024 target.
NHS England have committed to supporting all of the roles recruited through the scheme into the future, and PCNs can be confident that there will be funding for any ARRS role recruited before March 2024
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to collect feedback from people with arthritis who use surgical hubs.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department values the importance of patient feedback on all National Health Service services, including from patients with arthritis who use NHS surgical hubs. It is up to individual integrated care systems and NHS trusts to decide how they collect patient feedback.
The NHS Friends and Family Test was created to help service providers and commissioners understand whether patients are happy with the service provided, or where improvements are needed. It is a quick and anonymous way for patients to give their views after receiving NHS care or treatment. Patients are also encouraged to give feedback by speaking to a member of staff or by leaving a review on the relevant services on nhs.uk.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many musculoskeletal first contact practitioners were working in general practice as of 11 July 2023.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There were 1,894 full-time equivalent first contact physiotherapists in March 2023 working in general practices and primary care networks.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department planned timeline is for providers to deliver Perioperative Care Co-ordination teams.
Answered by Will Quince
From April 2023, providers have been asked to establish Perioperative Care Co-ordination teams. These are multidisciplinary teams who will assess health needs to proactively inform pre- and post-operative care and identify surgical risk factors, in order to reduce the chance of cancellations and to improve patient outcomes.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that carers receive an assessment; if he will undertake a review of the (a) access to and (b) adequacy of carer's assessments; and what steps he has taken to ensure that recommendations from a carer's assessment are put in place.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake a Carer’s Assessment for any unpaid carer who appears to have a need for support and to meet their eligible needs on request from the carer.
The Health and Care Act 2022 includes provisions for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to assess the performance of local authorities’ delivery of their adult social care duties, as set out under part one of the Care Act 2014. The CQC have been engaging with local Government, the care sector and people with care and support needs to develop a framework for these assessments, including how to consider local authorities’ responsibilities to unpaid carers. We expect CQC assessment of local authorities to roll out from April 2023.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to analyse the Office for National Statistics data on excess deaths from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to the end of 2022 across all age groups.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Analysts at the department have reviewed the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data on excess deaths every week since the start of the pandemic. There are a range of different organisations producing different estimates of excess deaths based on different methodologies. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) within the department analyses the same source data as ONS to produce and publish its own estimates. Using an alternative methodology to the ONS estimates, OHID analysis provides further breakdowns of excess deaths, including by age group, ethnic group, level of deprivation and cause of death.
Analysts at ONS and OHID meet regularly to discuss the analysis produced by both organisations, including the methods used and any issues which may affect the quality or accuracy of the mortality data.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the UK Health Security Agency of the effectiveness of the drug Evusheld against the Omicron variant of covid-19; and if she will make that treatment available on the NHS to people who are immunocompromised.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government has decided not to procure Evusheld for prevention through emergency routes at this time. This is a decision based on independent clinical advice by the multi-agency RAPID C-19 and a national expert policy working group, which considered a range of evidence, including clinical trial data, in vitro analysis and emerging observational studies. It concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence of benefit to recommend deployment at this time. The Chief Medical Officer for England is content that the correct process for providing clinical advice has been followed and agrees that it should now be referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for further evaluation.
The Department wrote to patient groups on 5 September 2022 with information on this decision and evidence considered. The Department intends to publish further details of the clinical advice received shortly.